Come back to me
by m.mms
Summary: It starts in 5.18 and it's about Lucas and Peyton.


**A little explanation: **I do not hate Lucas, I adore him as much as I adore Peyton and I'm satisfied and glad with how things turned out for them in 5.18 and 6.01, I wouldn't want it in any other way, this is however where my imagination took me.

And on a side note, English is not my first language, so if you find mistakes at some points I apologize.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own that cure song that I used here.

* * *

Haley was sitting beside Lucas in his room.

Haley: ok, now that I fixed that Mohawk, let's get to more important things. I need to ask you, did you tell Peyton that you hated her?"

"Maybe,…..I was a little wasted"

"Luke you can be such a jackass sometimes, she is in love with you. You probably broke her heart"

"Oh don't be dramatic, I didn't break her heart"

"Oh really? I'm being dramatic? Have you seen her since then?"

He got worried: "why, is she ok?"

Haley smiled: "you need to figure out what you want Luke……if Peyton is the girl you are in love with, great….if its Lindsey, great…..just please stop hiding your heart, I mean it. And I know that you are afraid of getting hurt again but doing all this doesn't make it any better, this is not the way to protect your heart. You are just making yourself hurt even more and I'm sure if you don't face your feelings you'll never find peace again, try be honest with yourself, ok?" then she got up to leave but before that she kissed his forehead and touched his shoulder: "think about what I said, ok?" she kindly said and then left……..

After 6 hours Lucas called Haley: "hey, can I see you?"

"Sure, I'll come there"……..

"Hey"

"Hi"

"What is it? Are you okay?"

"Lindsey came and we had some conversation about the book that led up to her saying that she misses me everyday and before she left she said I can call her if I want or if I need anything."

"Well, is that a good thing for you or not?"

Lucas sighed: "I thought a lot about what you said before Lindsey came and also after she left, I thought a lot and I cleared my head, then I replayed everything that has happened, in my mind. You were right, I need to face my feelings and yes I've been trying to protect myself from that crushing pain that I had been through a few years ago, I've been trying so hard to do that, that I lost my way. I was so lost and confused in the past few months and I didn't know what to do or what is right or wrong anymore"

Haley: "the answer is easy, just look into your heart instead of avoiding what's in there"

"I know……and I did that and now I know what I want"

"And?"

"I want Peyton. I've always loved her and I always will no matter how hard I try to move on"

"I know,…so what are you gonna do? I mean Peyton has a big heart and she may forgive you but on the other hand you hurt her pretty bad so I don't know……"

"I know, but I'll do anything, whatever it takes or how long it takes doesn't matter"

Haley smiled: "that's my boy. Welcome back the real Lucas Scott"

He chuckled: "so have you seen her today?"

No, she didn't come to Tric today.

Ok, then I guess I'm gonna go to her home to see her.

"Ok, good luck" Haley said and left and after that Lucas went to Peyton's house.

He was nervous. He took a deep breath and knocked the door. Brooke opened: "what now? You want to hurt her again by some other awful words?"

"Look I know you are pissed and that she is upset but….." just then he noticed that Brook has been crying "why are you crying?"

She didn't respond.

"Is she okay?!" He entered the house "Peyton……Peyton!"

"Don't bother she is not here"

"Where is she?"

"She is gone"

"What do you mean she is gone?!"

Brooke came and picked a letter from table and gave it to Lucas:

"_Dear Brooke, with everything that has happened I can't stay here any longer. I don't want him to get hurt more than he already has, I don't want to ruin his life even more, and I can't face him everyday thinking that he hates me, it's too painful because despite all of this I still love him. That's why I need to go, I need to start fresh somewhere else. You helped me so much since we came back to Tree Hill and I appreciate that, and I'm sorry that I'm leaving like this but I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye to you face to face and I knew if I told you I was going to go you would have stopped me or you would have come with me, which I didn't want either. Because you got pretty much settled here and also I need to be alone for a while, and please don't try to find me or contact me, I will contact with you myself when I'm ready, but please know that I love you. And say goodbye to all others for me._

_Love, Peyton"_

Lucas was so shocked, he just froze where he was standing while his eyes had become a little wide. After a few minutes standing there, he took a few steps to the back so slowly or more like staggered to the back and broke down and tumbled on the couch while the letter was still in his hand, then after a few seconds sitting there frozen, he looked at Brooke that was still crying…..

* * *

It was 6 AM but Lucas wasn't asleep, in fact he had slept about 3 hours last night, just like every other night in the past 6 months. He couldn't sleep much, since Peyton was gone. His thoughts wouldn't let him, they wouldn't leave him alone, thinking about where she is, what she does, is she ever gonna come back, does she still love him and many other things too.

He had tried to find her and had looked for her everywhere he thought she would be, LA at her old place, on the sea with Larry, and he had asked everybody that he thought they would know where she might be, her friends and the people she used to work with back then in LA, her father Larry, her brother Derek but none of them knew where she was. She even had changed her cell phone number. He didn't know what do anymore. It was 3 months that he had given up on searching, simply because he didn't know where to search anymore. Of course Peyton had sent a few letters to Brooke and Larry during that time to let them know that she is okay. Also Brooke had tried to respond her letters but every time she had tried, her letter was sent back exactly like the way it was sent, apparently the address on the envelop of Peyton's letter wasn't right or reliable, as if she didn't want anyone to find her and that she wanted to forget everything about her past.

2 hours passed and he was still sitting in bed, doing nothing. Haley came: "Hey"

"Hi"

"How are you?"

"Fine"

"I wanted to invite you for lunch and since it's Sunday and you don't have to go to school you don't have an excuse"

"Haley, I don't have the mood for that, I'm gonna stay home"

"Lucas you should stop doing this…….I mean have you seen yourself in mirror? You kinda look like a homeless Junkie with that long hair and beard. Below your eyes is hollow which shows that you don't get enough sleep every day, your skin is pale and you've become thinner which shows that you don't eat enough either………you are destroying yourself and you should stop it…… you have to admit, she may never come back"

"She will come back, she came back to me once, she is gonna come back again"

"Luke, you can't sit and wait for her forever, you need to move on with your life"

"Do you not remember the last time I tried to move on? 'Cause I remember it so well, don't you see? I can't, I can't let her go, I just can't stop loving her, and I know that I screwed up, I lied to myself to protect my heart and then I told her some things that I didn't even mean while I was drunk, but I've paid for it in the past 6 months and I'm still paying for it, every day that I spend away from her makes me more miserable. But I'm not gonna make the same mistake again while I know she is the only one that will always be in my heart, so yeah if I have to, I sit and wait forever for her to come back again. And you know she has a big heart, she'll forgive me."

"But Luke……"

"Please Haley……Just don't……this hope is the only thing that's keeping me alive, her coming back to me……so just don't take it from me" his voice was shaking. Haley's heart broke for him, she didn't say anything more, she just pulled him in her arms and hugged him…...

10 days later Brooke called him while she was being excited:

"Hello?"

"Luke! You can't believe what happened! Peyton called a few minutes ago, she said she is coming to Tree Hill and she'll be home in less than an hour!

Lucas got so happy and excited: "oh my god Brooke, that's great! So, you are gonna go to airport?"

"No, I'll wait at home because I got so excited that I forgot to ask the exact time that her plane lands"

"Ok then, I'm gonna come over there"

"Ok, Haley and Nathan are gonna come too, they were with me when she called"…….

They were all at Brooke's, all nervous and excited, waiting for her, especially Lucas. Finally the door got opened and Peyton entered, she was looking beautiful as always. Peyton didn't expect anyone to be there other than Brooke, especially she didn't expect Lucas to be there, so she got surprised but more than that she was surprised by how he was looking, he truly was a mess and her heart broke to see him like that. Brooke ran to her and hugged her, so did Nathan and Haley. But Lucas didn't, he just went towards her slowly, after the others hugged her. When those 3 saw this, took a few steps back to give them some space though they could still hear them. Peyton was still looking at him with a shock expression on her face. Lucas smiled nervously and said: "Hi". After a short pause she said: "hi" and while she still was looking at him surprisingly continued: "what are you doing here?"

He thought she was mad and didn't want him there, but she was more surprised than mad: "Look I know you are pissed at me and you have every right to be, I deserve it but if you just listen to me for 5 minutes……

Peyton: "Luke……."

"No, just please let me finish then say and do whatever you want, I've been a jackass to say those things to you, I was drunk, hurt, lost and confused. And I was exhausted and frustrated by my love for you and by the fact that I never could let go of you."

Peyton got even more shocked by hearing the last part: "what?!"

"Yeah, I love you more than anything in the world, I always have, I was just scared of getting hurt again so I kept denying it and then everything got out of control. Please, I'm so sorry…..I've been miserable since you left…..I mean, just look at me…….and I searched everywhere but I couldn't fine you….please, if you find a way to forgive me and give me a chance to make it up to you…….I'd do anything and I'll wait till whenever you want or need"

Peyton's heart broke for him even more, he was practically begging her and those words were exactly what she wanted to hear for a long time and 6 months ago she thought she would never hear him saying that he was still in love with her. She wasn't even mad at him, in fact she had forgiven him long ago. She got teary eyed but whispered: "It's too late"

"No, no….please if you just give me another chance….." Just then somebody knocked the door and entered. It was a handsome stranger that was carrying some bags. He smiled: "here you are, it took a little while to get our bags and also I intentionally waited a little longer to give you a chance to tell your friends the news, then I took a cab and came to the address you gave me" he put the bags down. Nathan, Haley and Brooke were so surprised. Brooke said: "what news?!"

The stranger looked at Peyton and said: "oh, you haven't told them yet?" then put his arm around her, smiled and looked at others and said: "My name is David, Peyton and I are engaged, we are just here for one week, we wanted to marry each other where her parents got married." then rubbed her back and smiled again. But Peyton was staring at Lucas that was only a few steps away from her. Lucas was staring back at her wide eyed and mouth agape. He was so shocked and his mind was still processing what that guy said, he blinked so slowly 3 times, it was like he didn't want to believe it. After a few minutes standing there frozen he took a few steps back slowly while he was kinda lurching. He felt like the world was spinning around his head, as if somebody had hit him in head with something hard.

Peyton: "Lucas……"

All of them were looking at him with worried eyes. Lucas just whispered: "I……I should go" while his eyes were still a little wide, then left there as quickly as he could.

Haley said: "Luke….." but he was already gone. They all looked at each other again with worried eyes. David was confused: "what happened? Was he okay?........Am I missing something?" but nobody answered him, Brooke just awkwardly tried to change the subject: "you guys must be tired, I'll bring some coffee"…… .

Lucas wanted to pass the street to get where he had parked his car. But he was still so shocked and confused, while he was feeling a slight pain in his chest and was breathing heavily. He didn't understand when a car appeared in the street, he just got startled by the sound of its brake. He looked at the car and remembered that moment where Peyton nearly ran him over years ago. God he wished he could go back there. He stared at the car for a little while, then he felt he couldn't stand anymore and fell on his knees on the ground. The driver opened the door of the car (that was a taxi) and went towards him: "son, are you okay?" He could see that his breathing wasn't normal, continued: "come on, let me take you to the hospital" and helped him to get up.

Lucas: "no, no…..there is no need, just take me to my house please."

"Are you sure?"

Lucas nodded. The driver helped him to get in the car and then started to drive. Lucas was sitting in the back seat while he was leaning his head to the closed window and was looking outside. He was so exhausted, emotionally and physically both. The pain in his chest was becoming more and more and also breathing was getting harder for him by passing every minute. But he didn't care, he was just trying to remember some of the most important moments of his life:

"That's me inside your head"

"………..So why did you just tell me all that? I mean we don't really know each other"

"Maybe that's the point"………

"I want this, I wanna be here, I want to have everything with you, I want us, Peyton"………

"You're always saving me"

"Somebody's got to"

"If I say I love you right now, will you hold it against me?"……..

"Hey Peyton it's you…..when all my dreams come true, the one I wan next to me, it's you"……..

"You're the one I want next to me when my dreams come true, you're the one I want next to me if they don't, as long as I have you nothing else matters,…..Peyton I love you and I want us to be together forever"……………

"Because I should have said yes, I was young and scared and I didn't realize that by saying that I wasn't ready it would mean that we would never be together again. Had I known that I would have said yes. Luke I miss you everyday and I've told everyone here that I didn't come back for you but I did, of course I did. I STILL LOVE YOU LUCAS." ………

By remembering all this, his heart ached even more. His eyes were half open and he was struggling so hard to breathe.

"Son, we have arrived"

He came back from his thoughts to the world by driver's voice and looked around.

Driver: "this is your house, right?"

Lucas nodded and paid him and gathered his little remained strength to get up. Before he closed the door of the car, the driver said: "Are you sure you don't need a doctor?"

Lucas whispered: "yeah" and went to the house and entered his room. He staggered towards the drawer and opened it, then picked up that ring and also Peyton's photo, but just then his hand became numb completely and both of them fell from his hand and not a minute later he collapsed and fell on the floor……… .

At Brooke's house:

Brooke: so, when did you two meet?

"About 5 months ago, of course I tried so hard to convince her to date me" David said and laughed, Brooke chuckled in an awkward way and exchanged a look with Nathan and Peyton and said: "so, it's not that long, don't you think it's a little early for getting married?"

"I know it's crazy, but your friend is a great person and I love her, so….." then chuckled and continued: "you know she has talked about you, in fact you are the only person that she talked about from her past, and you are exactly like I imagined Brooke"

Brooke got a little surprised: "So you don't know anything about her past?"

"No, I just know that her mother is dead, her dad is a sailor, she was adopted, her home town is Tree Hill and her best friend is Brooke Davis"

"That's all?!"

"Yeah, she asked me not to ask anything about her past and I loved her enough to respect her wish. Her past is hers, it's not on my business"

Nathan said: "but it's your past that defines you who you are right now."

Brooke gave Peyton a look that meant "have you lost your mind?" and Peyton looked away. David tried to change the subject from what Nathan said, he looked at Peyton and said: "so, that friend of yours that was here earlier, what was the deal with him? He didn't seem so good when he left". Before anyone answers him, Haley that wasn't there until then came out of a room, while she was worried: "He is not picking his cell, I'm so worried, I'm gonna go to his house"

Peyton: I'll come with you.

Nathan: me too, let's go there together.

Brooke gave Peyton a look to make Peyton notice David.

Peyton said: Brooke, why don't you make David busy by stories of our childhood and our funny memories until I come back.

Brooke glared at Peyton, and David looked at Brooke while he was excited, Brooke chuckled awkwardly: "our memories, right!"

Then Peyton looked at him: "I'll be back soon." David was confused but didn't argue and said: "ok"…….

Nathan, Haley and Peyton drove there. They entered the house and found him unconscious on the ground. They all became wide eyed.

Haley: oh my god!

Nathan rushed to him and tried to find out if he was breathing or not: "he is still breathing, call 911!" . Haley grabbed her cell and called. But Peyton was just standing there, frozen and teary eyed. Then she noticed the ring and her own picture on the floor and tears started falling from her eyes: "oh Luke…." she whispered.

An ambulance came and two paramedics started their work on him. One of them said: "his pulse is too weak, hurry up" and injected some medicine to his body while the other one was trying to give him oxygen and serum. Nathan, Haley and Peyton were looking with terrified eyes. After a few seconds one of paramedics said: "no pulse, his heart is not beating, full cardiac arrest" and started to do the CPR. Peyton was so worried and scared, she almost could hear how fast her own heart was beating. Tears kept falling on her cheek. The paramedic that was giving him CPR told the other: "we should shock him……charge on 200"

"Charged" the other one said and shocked him.

"No response,…..charge on 200 again" and started to pump on his chest again "come on, come on…."

"Charged", the other one shocked him again.

He shook his head: "still no response……..…charge on 300" and started pumping again.

"Charged" and shocked him for the third time.

"He is back!......ok, hurry, we need to take him to hospital as soon as possible".

Peyton, Nathan and Haley all sighed out of relief though they still were terrified as hell……

They all were waiting in waiting room and were going crazy. Peyton called Brooke, Brooke realized that she's been crying: "what's wrong Peyton?"

"Lucas had a heart attack, we are at the hospital….."

"What?!.....ok, don't worry, he is gonna be ok, I'll come right now" and hung up the phone.

David said: "what happened?"

"Our friend that left earlier,……he had a heart attack and all of them are at hospital, I'm gonna go there too, you make yourself comfortable and get some rest."

"No, I'm gonna come too, I want to be there for Peyton" and got up.

"No,….um , Peyton asked me to tell you not to come there, she said there is no need and that she'll be back soon and since you are tired you should get some rest, so…." she lied to stop him from coming, at that point that was the last thing Peyton needed.

David wasn't sure: "but…."

"Seriously, there is no need for you to come, I mean there are already enough people there and don't worry, I'm gonna be there for Peyton….and we'll be back soon"

David was a little confused but said: "Ok"……………..

Brooke found them in waiting room: "how is he?"

Peyton: we don't know, the doctors are with him and they are still working on him.

She was still crying, so was Haley but Nathan was trying to hold it together, Brooke got teary eyed too.

Peyton: what did you tell David?

Brooke: I told him that our friend had a heart attack but I lied and told him you asked him not to come and that we would be back soon.

Peyton nodded: "thank you"

45 minutes after that, the doctor came. All of them stood up and stared at him with worried eyes.

Nathan: how is he?

Doctor: "I'm gonna be honest with you guys, he is in a very bad shape, he has had a severe heart attack and as you know he was gone for 5 minutes, we did and are doing everything we could and yes he is still alive but that's just it, I mean he is still unconscious and he is not even breathing on his own, he is breathing with the help of a machine, all in all the possibility of him not getting through this is high and I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, I'm so sorry" he shook his head sadly and continued: "btw, only one person can stay with him" and walked away.

They all looked at each other while they were so upset. Peyton said: "I'll stay with him"

Brooke: but I told David we were gonna be back soon, what am I supposed to tell him this time?

Peyton: I don't know and I don't care right now Brooke, I just know that Lucas needs me more than ever and that's the only thing that I care about now, I'm gonna stay"

Haley: No you won't, you've done enough damage, I'll stay with him myself.

Peyton looked at her wide eyed but didn't say anything, instead Brooke said: "what are you saying Haley?! You are blaming Peyton for Luke's heart attack?!"

"You know that emotional shock and trauma caused it"

"Yeah but how the hell she could know Luke still wanted her after what happened the last time she saw him?!" Brooke was trying to defend Peyton, because she was silent and Brooke knew deep down Peyton agrees with Haley and that she is blaming herself.

"Well yeah, but if she hadn't hidden herself from us…."

"She was trying to move on and Lucas wasn't all innocent in this either…."

"Stop it, both of you!" Nathan yelled and startled them both. Peyton was crying in silence.

Nathan softly continued: "this is not the time to put the blame for what has happened, and it sure as hell isn't gonna help Lucas……it's been a long day and we all are tired but instead of fighting with each other we should do what's best for him, which is why I think Peyton should stay with him"

Haley: but…..

Nathan: he really needs this Hales…….Peyton, you stay here and if there was any changes call us, ok? We are gonna come tomorrow again"

Peyton nodded. Brooke, Haley and Nathan left.

Peyton entered the room and her heart broke all over again by seeing him like that. There were tubes and wires all over his body, one tube coming out from his mouth, one coming out from his nose, one wire attached to his hand to convey the serum to his body, another wire to connect the heart monitor to him........ He also was hooked to a machine that was breathing for him. Peyton went towards the bed, stroked his forehead and kissed it while tears were still dropping from her eyes, then she sat on the chair beside his bed and took his hand: "don't worry, I'm here with you, ok? And I will stay here until you get well…..and you are gonna be ok,…..you have to…..you can't just leave me again…..and I didn't get a chance to tell you this but I forgave you long ago…" and started to sob, then after a few minutes kissed his hand, laid her head on bed beside his body while she still was holding his hand. After a while of crying she finally fell asleep.

In the mean time Brooke went back home. David came out of the room when he heard the sound of the door but he didn't see Peyton with Brooke as he expected: "where is Peyton?"

"Our friend was in a really bad shape, so somebody had to stay with him…….Peyton and him are close friends, so we decided it was better that Peyton stays there, she told me to apologize to you for her, I mean…."

He was confused but said: "no that's fine, I mean her friend needs her right now... I just hope that he is gonna be ok"

"Yeah, I hope so too"…….

2 days passed and he still was the same. The morning of the third day, Haley went to his room and found Peyton sleeping beside his bed. She gently touched her shoulder and woke her up: "hey"

"Hi"

"Come on, you've been here for 2 whole days and I can see that you haven't gotten much sleep and that you are tired, you should go home and take a break, I'll take care of him while you are not here"

"But…"

"But nothing, go….just for a few hours, then come back again, Nathan is in the car waiting for you, he'll drive you home"

"Ok" Peyton said, then looked at Lucas and kissed his forehead: "I'll be back soon" and went towards the door to leave but Haley called her: "Peyton". She turned back "what?"

"I'm sorry for what I said that day"

"You were right"

"No, I wasn't, I was just so scared and I needed someone to blame,…..it wasn't fair, I'm sorry"

Peyton nodded and slightly smiled, then left……

Nathan drove her to Brooke's and left. She entered the house, David came towards her and hugged her "hey" and rubbed her back: "how is he?"

"Still the same" she said sadly.

"How are you?"

She shook her head: "not so good" her eyes became teary but to prevent them from falling she chuckled and said: "how are you? I'm so sorry that we only have been talking on the phone and that have been seeing each other for a few minutes in the past 2 days". (David had visited in both days.)

"It's ok, I mean he is your friend and I totally understand"

"Thank you"

Brooke came out from her room and looked at Peyton. Peyton shook her head again: "no change" they both were looking so sad. David tried to comfort them: "he is gonna be ok…..but now…" looked at Peyton: "you need to get some rest because you are looking worn out". Peyton took a shower and slept for 3 hours, after that she got ready and was about to go to hospital again that David found her: "where are you going?" they weren't in the room and Brooke was in the kitchen so she could hear them but she was pretending to be busy.

"To the hospital"

"What? you only got here a few hours ago….I know that he is your friend and you want to be there for him but you are not his only friend…..I mean can't anyone else stay with him at least for tonight?"

"I must be beside him, he needs me, and btw I'm not taking my cell phone this time, it needs to be peaceful and quiet for him so….."

David was looking confused and a little pissed: "oh great, so I won't be able to even talk to you?........at least tell me when you are gonna come back?" he jokingly continued: "3 days later?"

but Peyton seriously responded: "maybe, I don't know, maybe even more, Brooke is a great company, so enjoy your time with her,……I'm sorry" and then left before he got a chance to say anything. David looked at Brooke while he was confused, then after a short pause said: "ok, I've been really trying to ignore it but I can't do it anymore, I think there are some things that you guys are not telling me"

Brooke looked away: "you said yourself that you didn't mind not knowing anything about her past"

"Yeah but now I wanna know, because it's affecting our present"

Brooke stared at him: "you really want to know?"

"Yeah".

Brooke went and brought Lucas' books, "An Unkindness Of Ravens" and "The Comet".

David: oh these are Peyton's favorite books, she loves them so much and carries them with her pretty much everywhere.

Brooke got teary eyed and realized although Peyton have been trying to move on but she couldn't have: "Have you read them too?"

"No, I'm not a fan of novels, but I do know that both of them have the same author….what was his name….oh yeah, Lucas Scott….I've seen these books' covers so many time, 'cause like I already said Peyton carries them everywhere, that's why I remember his name"

"Do you remember our friend's name, the one that had a heart attack?"

He thought a little "yeah, I remember you guys were calling him Lucas" and not a second later his eyes became a little wide and he could understand the connection: "he is the one who wrote these books?"

"Yeah"

"Ok, what does that have to do anything with Peyton?"

"Maybe since you have a lot of time now you should begin reading those books, you'll see yourself, start from 'An Unkindness of Ravens'." She said this and left him even more confused. After that He grabbed Lucas' first book and started to read it………….

Peyton entered Lucas' room, kissed his forehead and sat on the chair beside his bed and touched his hand: "hey! I'm back" her voice was shaking: "so, they say you may hear me and that talking to you may help you get better, so I'm gonna read one of my favorite cure lyrics for you:

"_Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am home again_

_Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am whole again_

_Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am young again_

_Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am fun again_

_However far away, I will always love you_

_However long I stay, I will always love you_

_Whatever words I say, I will always love you_

_Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am free again_

_Whenever I'm alone with you, You make me feel like I am clean again_

_However far away I will always love you_

_However long I stay I will always love you_

_Whatever words I say I will always love you"_

Then she continued while her voice had become shakier and tears were flowing on her cheeks: "Lucas please, don't do this to me……I can't handle it…..I can't take it anymore….please don't leave, ok?"……..

Another 4 days passed and still no change, Haley came and sent Peyton home by force. Peyton entered the house, Brooke wasn't there, she was gone to the hospital, it was just David: "Hi"

"Hi".

David kept staring at her.

Peyton: "Ok, I'm sorry about how I left the last time and I know that you're pissed considering that you didn't come to hospital in the past 4 days…."

"No I'm not……I mean I know how much he means to you, and I didn't come to hospital to give you two some space"

Peyton was shocked and confused and he got it by the expression from her face so he started to explain: "you know I've had a lot of free time in these 4 days and I read your favorite books by Brooke's suggestion and Brooke told me every other thing that I needed to know, you were right, those books are great, especially the first one, it's a beautiful epic love story, no wonder it became best seller novel"

Peyton didn't say anything, she didn't know what to say, she just turned her head away and kept looking down. He continued: "so basically, that boy is dying because he heard our engagement news, huh?"

Peyton paused, then looked up and nodded.

"Well, clearly he is still madly in love with you, the big question is: are you still in love with him?"

Peyton kept looking down and didn't respond.

"I want to hear it from your mouth so please answer"…….

Peyton paused, then said: "yes,….I am"

"…..I'll pack my bags and I'll leave as soon as possible."

Peyton looked at him and whispered: "I'm so sorry" and gave him her ring. He took the ring, looked at her and after a short pause nodded, then he went to the room to pack his stuff and Peyton went to Brooke's room and started to sob and after a short while she fell asleep on Brooke's bed……

After a few hours she woke up and found out that David was gone and Brooke had come back.

Peyton: did he leave?

"Yeah"

Peyton nodded and started to cry again. Brooke went to her and hugged her. After that Peyton took a shower, took some clean clothes with her and went to hospital again.

"Hey…." took Lucas' hand and held it: "so, I went home and I realized that my fiancé had found out about our past……he had read your books…..He asked me if I was still in love with you, and I answered yes…" she chuckled nervously but tears came to her eyes again, she whispered: "I love you so much" then kissed his hand gently……

The next morning when she opened her eyes he wasn't there, the bed was empty. She got terrified and got up to go to the nurse station that a nurse entered the room.

Peyton: "where is he?!"

Nurse: "don't worry, there has been a progress in his shape, now he is breathing on his own and his vital signs are better than before, though he is still unconscious but there is no need for him to be here in CCU anymore, so we took him to the regular ward but you had just fallen asleep and you were so tired so we didn't wake you up"

Peyton smiled and sighed out of relief. The nurse smiled back at her: "I don't know what you said to him or what you've been doing, but whatever it is, it's totally working, I mean none of us hoped that he would get better, but now the chance for him to get well is much more, it's almost a miracle…..come on, I'll show you his room"

Peyton followed her and thanked god while she was smiling. She entered his new room, now he wasn't attached to that machine that breathed for him for the past week, the tubes in his mouth and nose were gone too but there was a wire attached to his nose to give him oxygen and help him to breathe better, and he still was hooked to serum and that heart monitor. Peyton came close to him, smiled and kissed his lips softly, then sat beside his bed and started to stroke his forehead: "Hey…..you've been doing really good…..keep fighting, ok?.....don't give up, just keep holding on, and I'm right here with you, ok? I'll be beside you all along."

Another 3 days passed. It was 8 AM and Peyton had jus fallen asleep 2 hours ago, she was on the chair beside his bed and her head was down, on the bed beside his hand. Suddenly she felt that her head was touched by something. Yes, it was his hand that was stroking her hair. She looked up and saw that his eyes were open, she looked at him in disbelief for a few seconds then raised her head from the bed and sighed out of relief and chuckled after that, though tears were falling from her eyes too. He slightly smiled, he was still so weak.

Peyton started to stroke his face: "hey!"

He whispered: "Hi"

"Welcome back…….you really scared me"

He smiled again.

She grinned and continued: "Ok, I'm gonna go to get the doctor" and wanted to get up that Lucas took her hand: "no, no….don't go anywhere, please,…just stay for a minute" he said in a pleading, begging sort of way. Peyton looked at him and softly said: "ok". Lucas breathed slowly, looked at her and whispered: "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" and got teary eyed.

"Hey! I know,……it's ok, we can talk about it later….." and stroked his forehead.

"No, no, please, I need to say this."

She looked at him: "ok"

"Losing you was always my worst nightmare, that's why I kept ignoring my feelings, I was scared because I knew I wasn't able to handle losing you again, causing by your rejection or whatever other reason, it just hurts too much…..and turned out I was right, I mean I thought I lost you again and look where it got me…." he chuckled slightly.

Peyton took his hand: "Luke, I'm not going anywhere, I'm right here with you, I promise. And I've already told you, I didn't reject you"

"I know" Lucas said and paused, then asked: "were you telling me the truth? When you said you told him that you were still in love with me,…were you telling the truth or you were just trying to pull me back to this life somehow?" He chuckled nervously and waited for her answer. She smiled: "you heard that?"

"Yeah"

Peyton grinned: "I was telling the truth but at the same time I wanted to pull you back to the life too" .He chuckled slightly: "well, it totally worked,….you gave me a reason to fight back" .Peyton chuckled too. Lucas looked at her and paused a little, as if he was hesitant to say something but he finally said it: "listen, I know that this is really not the place or the time for it but……I don't want to waste even another minute, so……, Will you marry me?" and kept looking at her while she could see a little fear in his eyes, probably fear of her not saying yes, just like the last time, so she responded quickly without leaving him hanging even for one second: "yes". He sighed out of relief, then chuckled. And she chuckled with him, then she went towards him and kissed his lips and looked at him after that. He smiled and looked back at her with adoration and took her hand and kissed it. Peyton chuckled again: "Ok, I better go get that doctor before you have another heart attack"

He chuckled too: "yeah, you better do that….."

THE END


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